Article

"The Translation Process: Methods and Problems of its Investigation"

Wolfgang Lrscher
Meta: journal des traducteurs/ Meta: Translators' Journal, vol. 50, n 2, 2005, p. 597-608.

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The Translation Process: Methods and

Problems of its Investigation
wolfgang lrscher
University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
WolfgangLoerscher@web.de

RSUM

Aprs une brve introduction sur lanalyse de processus mentaux (section 1), ainsi
quune esquisse dune recherche approfondie dcrite dans cet article (section 2), nous
prsentons notre mthodologie (section 3). Elle consiste en une slection de donnes
ainsi quune analyse et valuation de ces dernires. La section 4 dcrit une analyse stratgique du processus de traduction faite sur trois niveaux : le niveau des lments de
stratgies de traductions (4.1.) ; des stratgies elles-mmes (4.2) ; ainsi que des versions
(5). La fin de larticle compare brivement les processus de traduction entre professionnels et non-professionnels.
ABSTRACT

After the introductory remarks about the analysis of mental translation processes (section 1) and an outline of the investigation reported on in this paper (section 2) the
methodology used is presented (section 3). It consists of the methods for data elicitation
as well as for data analysis and evaluation. Section 4 describes a strategic analysis of
translation processes carried out on three levels: the level of the elements of translation
strategies (4.1), of the strategies themselves (4.2) and of the translation versions (5). The
paper terminates with a brief comparison of professional and non-professional translation processes (section 6).
MOTS-CLS/KEYWORDS

translation problem, translation strategy, translation performance, translation version,

translation process

1. Introduction
Up to the 1980s, translation theory was primarily concerned with two phenomena
(Lrscher 1991a): with translation as a product and with translation competence.
Translation as a product that is a written text in a target-language (TL), which
represents the result of a translation process, had been described and analysed by a
comparison with the respective source-language (SL) text. The relation between the
SL text and the TL text had been the object of the numerous and highly abstract models of equivalence (Koller 1978; 21983: 95; Ladmiral 1981: 393). In most cases, these
models were prescriptive in nature and of very limited use for the practical translator.
Translation theory was mainly competence-oriented and concentrated on the
internalized knowledge of the professional translator. The models of translation were
theoretical and speculative rather than empirical, and were based on idealizations
rather than on actually occurring data (Toury 1980: 41).
As a consequence of this orientation on product and competence, translation
processes and translation performance remained largely unexplored (Rei/Vermeer
Meta, L, 2, 2005

598 Meta, L, 2, 2005

1984: 41; Krings 1986). This narrowing of the object and of the dimensions of investigation has only recently been recognized as a deficit. As a result, a new, processoriented, performance-analytical discipline has developed within translation studies
(cf. Gerloff 1988; Jskelinen 1990; Krings 1986; Lrscher 1991a; Sguinot 1989;
Tirkkonen-Condit 1991).
The considerations which will be made in this paper can be located within this
area of research. They are based on a research project in which psycholinguistic aspects of the translation process are investigated by analyzing translation performance.
This is done in order to reconstruct translation strategies. These underlie translation
performance, operate in the translation process and thus are not accessible to direct
inspection.
2. The Design of the Investigation
The empirical basis of the investigation was sixty orally performed and tape-recorded translations (German-English; English-German) of nine written texts. The
oral form of translation was chosen, since presumably more aspects of the process of
speech production and thus also those of the translation process can be externalized herein than would be the case in written translation.
During the first phase of the project, translation processes of advanced foreign
language learners were investigated. The subjects mostly students of English in
lower semesters had received no or only a minimal education in translation. They
had only a partial competence in English beside their German mother tongue. The
results brought forth are shown in my monograph Translation Performance, Translation Process, and Translation Strategies. A Psycholinguistic Investigation, Tbingen, 1991.
In 1992, the project entered its second phase in which the mental processes of
professional translators were analysed. At the moment, a third phase is in preparation
which will concentrate on bilinguals translation processes (Lrscher [in preparation]).
3. Methodology
Concerning the methodology which has been applied for the investigation of the
translation process, distinctions can be made between the methods for data collection and those for data evaluation.
3.1 Methods of Data Collection
As regards data collection, a combination of thinking-aloud and retrospective
probing plays a decisive role as a method to discern the mental processes involved
(Ericsson/Simon 1984). The subjects were asked to verbalize the thoughts that
occurred to them as much as possible while they performed the translation task. In
addition, the subjects were confronted with their translation problems shortly after
their translation and were asked to comment on the problems and the ways in which
they tried to solve them. During the last several years, many arguments have been put
forward about the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure. Elsewhere
(Lrscher 1991b), I pointed out seven arguments in favour of thinking-aloud as a
method for the elicitation of data on translation processes. By way of conclusion, it

the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 599

can be assumed that thinking-aloud in combination with retrospective probing represents a useful instrument to formulate hypotheses on mental processes in general
and about translation processes in particular. It goes without saying that both the
situation in which the data has been externalized and its inherent limitations must be
taken into account.
3.2 Methods of Data Analysis and Evaluation
The analysis and evaluation of data are carried out by means of an interpretive
approach, as is customary in performance analysis. The primary aim of this
approach is the hypothetical reconstruction of sense relations. In the process of interpretive reconstruction, certain data are interpreted as (observable) indicators of
(unobservable, mental) translation strategies. These indicators represent the basis for
the formation of hypotheses on the mental translation process. A more detailed
description of these phenomena is discussed in Lrscher 1991a: 56-66.
The process of knowledge accumulation with respect to translation strategies
has a dialectical nature. On the one hand, the analysts must have some knowledge of
the concept of translation strategies in order to be able to ascribe the status of strategy indicators to their respective signs. On the other hand, translation strategies are
only constituted by their indicators, so that knowledge of them can, to a very large
extent, only be gained by means of strategy indicators. Therefore, the analysts must
often proceed in a speculative and hypothetical way. They often do not interpret
signs to be indicators because they know the respective entity, i.e. the strategy, but
rather on the basis of considerations of probability. These can be corroborated or
turn out to be false in the course of accumulating further knowledge of the phenomena and of acquiring more experience in interpretation (Lrscher 1991a: 56-66).
4. A Strategic Analysis of the Process of Translation
Translation strategies have been defined by me as procedures which the subjects employ
in order to solve translation problems (Lrscher 1991a: 76-81). Accordingly, translation strategies have their starting-point in the realization of a problem by a subject,
and their termination in a (possibly preliminary) solution to the problem or in the
subjects realization of the insolubility of the problem at the given point in time.
Between the realization of a translation problem and the realization of its solution or insolubility, further verbal and/or mental activities can occur which can be
interpreted as strategy steps or elements of translation strategies. They can be formalized to yield categories of a model for the strategic analysis of the translation
process. A model of this type was developed on the basis of a corpus of translations
made by foreign language students. In the second stage of the project, it was applied
to translations performed by professional translators. Significant modifications of
the model were unwarranted for an adequate analysis of professional translation
processes although the quality and structure of the translation strategies and their
elements, as well as their quantitative distribution differ considerably, at least in part
(cf. section 6 for more details).
The model consists of two hierarchical levels. The first and lowest level contains
those phenomena which can be interpreted to be elements of translation strategies, i.e.

600 Meta, L, 2, 2005

the smallest discrete problem-solving steps. The second level captures the manifestations of translation strategies. Translation versions can be located within strategies or
can comprise several strategies, and are thus intra- or interstrategic phenomena.
More about the hierarchical organization of the model will be pointed out in sections 4.3 and 5.
4.1 Elements of Translation Strategies
The elements of translation strategies can be distinguished as to whether they are
original, i.e. constitutive, or potential. The former only occur within strategic, i.e.
problem-oriented phases of the translation process and are thus original, constitutive
elements of translation strategies. The latter may also occur within non-strategic
phases of the translation process.
In my data corpus, 22 elements of translation strategies could be found. They are
contained in Annex 1.
4.2 Translation Strategies
Translation strategies are procedures for solving translation problems. They range
from the realization of a translational problem to its solution or the realization of its
insolubility by a subject at a given moment. They are constituted by those minimal
problem-solving steps outlined above.
The flow chart represented in Annex 2 shows the interplay of the elements of
translation strategies and thus the decision paths available to the subjects when they
are engaged in solving translational problems.
As the data show, the elements of translation strategies only combine in specific
ways to build up structures. Accordingly, translation strategies contain one or more
of these structures.
Following a model for the analysis of discourse, which I developed in a different
context (Lrscher 1983), a distinction is made between basic structures, expanded
structures, and complex structures of translation strategies. This is based on the fact
that although translation strategies can be highly complex and thus difficult to document and describe in their manifold forms, they can be reduced to a fairly small
number of relatively simple structures. The application of a generative principle allows
the transformation of basic structures into expanded and complex structures.
The types of translation strategies used by the subjects of my investigations are
schematically represented as follows.
Five types of basic structures occur in my data corpus:
Type I. :
Type II. :
Type III. :
Type IV. :

RP - (P)SP#/SP
RP - SP - (P)SP#/SP
(RP) - VP - (P)SP#/SP
(RP) - (SP) - VP - (SP) - (P)SP#/SP; at least one SP must be
realized.
Type V. : () (P)SPa/SPa () (P)SPb/SPb () (P)SPc/SPc ()

Type I. is the easiest case to describe and consists of the recognition of a problem
(RP), followed by the immediate solution of the problem or the recognition of the
momentary insolubility of the problem. According to the generative principle, types

the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 601

II. to IV. can be derived from type I. Type II. contains an additional phase of searching for a solution (SP), type III. contains an additional verbalization of the translational problem (VP), and type IV. contains both an additional phase of searching
(SP) and a verbalization (VP). Type V. is the splitting-up structure. When a complex translation problem cannot be solved as a whole at a time, subjects often split it
up into several parts (a, b, c) and try to solve these successively.
Expanded structures of translation strategies consist of a basic structure which
contains one or more expansions. Expansions are defined as additional elements of a
strategy itself. For example, the strategy RP - VP - SP - VP2 - SP - PSP contains a
type IV. structure, i.e. RP - (SP) - VP - (SP) - (P)SP, with two additional elements
of the structure itself, (VP2, SP), i.e. with two expansions.
Complex Structures are built up of several basic and/or expanded structures. An
example serves to elucidate this procedure. The strategy VP - SP - SP - PSP
contains a type III. and a type II. structure. The former is terminated by SP, i.e. with
the subject setting the problem aside in order to try solving it later. The second part
of the strategy is the realization of a type II. structure. It terminates with a preliminary solution to the translation problem.
4.3 Translation Versions
As shown in the previous sections, the translation process contains both strategic
phases, which are directed towards solving translational problems, and non-strategic
phases, which aim at accomplishing tasks. The former phases range from the realization of a translational problem to its solution or to the realization of its insolubility
at a given point in time. The latter phases start with the extraction of a unit of translation and terminate when it has been (preliminarily) rendered into TL or when a
translational problem arises. Whereas translation strategies can, by definition, only
occur within strategic phases of the translation process, translation versions can be
localized within strategic or non-strategic phases, or can extend from strategic into
non-strategic phases or vice versa.
As my data reveal, the subjects often produce several translation versions. They
can comprise the entire text or only parts of it (e.g. paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or
phrases). The production of several translation versions can have various reasons, of
which at least four can be interpreted from the data:
i.

If subjects do not succeed in solving a translational problem on the first attempt, they
may try to solve the problem in its wider context. This may require more than two
translation versions which may also contain non-strategic parts of the translation.
ii. If, on the first attempt, subjects do not succeed in rendering a strategic or non-strategic
part of an SL text into TL in a way which is considered adequate, they may try to
optimize the TL text production by conceiving a more adequate translation in another
version.
iii. If subjects, while checking a complex TL text segment, find an alternative, they may
conceive a further translation version which contains the alternative TL text segment
plus part of its context.
iv. If subjects translate a complex SL text segment consisting of several strategic and/or
non-strategic parts by successively rendering its components into TL, subjects may produce a further version of the TL text segment. Thus, they may sense the complex interrelationships between the components of the TL text segment. They may realize that

602 Meta, L, 2, 2005

the components, in order to make an adequate stretch of TL discourse, cannot be put
together in the same way as they were successively translated from the SL.

As far as the investigation of translation strategies is concerned, the potential

conception of several translation versions by subjects plays an important part because
translation strategies and translation versions are interconnected in various ways.
Two cases are of special interest here:
In the first case, a further translation version contains one or more translation
strategies. They are called intraversional strategies.
In the second case, a translation strategy contains one or more translation versions. They are called intrastrategic versions.
I. Example of an intraversional translation strategy /S28/
Text

Category of Analysis

vielleicht fang ich nochmal ganz

anders an
(1s) ehm (4s)
vielleicht fangen wir mal so an
mit dem on which the decision
(1s) ehm (2s)
Fr die Entscheidung
(9s)
der Versammlung
(3s)
der Universitt Oxford
(3s)
Mrs Thatcher (1s)
das vorgeschlagene
(5s)
Nee
den vorgeschlagenen (1s)
Ehrengrad zu verweigern
gibt es kein wie auch immer
geartetes mgliches Argument.

TRANS
T4
OTL
<MSL>
RP/SP
SP
OSL/OTL
MTL
OSL
T
OSL
Ti.
Tii.
CHECK
Tii.REPHR.TL(Tii.)
T

T4

MTL T4#

The example presented contains the fourth translation version of a complex text
segment which consists of several clauses and phrases and can only be rendered into
TL by a transposition of its parts. Within the fourth translation version, a strategy is
to be found. The subject realizes a translational problem, i.e. the transfer of the SL
text segment on which the decision into TL. After a phase of searching, the subject
arrives at a solution and verbalizes it. The translation strategy thus consists of a type
II structure.

the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 603

II. Example of an Intrastrategic Translation Version /S24/
Text

Category of Analysis

ach, mit wem hab ich doch

vergessen (4s)
they have to know (1s)
when
(7s)
to use (2s)
to whom, no, ah
(3s)
wann welches Deutsch mit wem
gesprochen wird
(2s)
they have to know
(1s) when
(2s) they have (1s) to use
(10s)
oder (1s)
when
(2s) ehm (4s)
to
when to talk

T3

(1s) with whom (1s) in which (1s)

kind of German.

MTL
MTL
RP/SP
SPa = MTL
SPb = T3#
SP
VP
OTL T4
MTL
MTL
MTL T4#
SP
T5
MTL
SP
SPai2
REPHR.TL
= SPa2
T5#
SPb

T3

T4

T5

The transcribed segment of translation contains a strategy which ranges from

the realization of a translational problem to the solution of its last part (SPb). The
strategy is complex in nature. It contains a type V splitting-up basic structure, with a
solution consisting of two parts (SPa and SPb), expanded by a phase of searching
(SP), two embedded elements (SPb = , VP), as well as two (intrastrategic) translation versions of a previously verbalized problematic SL text segment (VP). Version
4 (i.e. T4) consists of three phases of monitoring of TL text segments (MTL). Version
5 (i.e. T5) comprises a phase of monitoring of a TL text segment (MTL) and a type
V. basic structure strategy which is thus an intraversional type V. translation strategy.
5. On the Hierarchical Organization of the Translation Process
The discussion of the two examples of intraversional strategies and intrastrategic
versions has revealed an aspect of the translation process which is probably of eminent importance for a comprehensive investigation comprising the strategic and
non-strategic dimension of the translation process: the hierarchical organization of
the translation process. It manifests itself in structural and functional ways.
1. Structural hierarchy means the fact that certain elements and structures bear a
relationship of super- and subordination. The model presented is organized on two
hierarchical levels. It analyses translation performance on the level of the elements of
translation strategies and on the superordinate level of the translation strategies
themselves. The structures of the superordinate level (i.e. translation strategies) consist of at least two elements of the subordinate level. Rank shift, i.e. the fact that one
element of a hierarchically lower level can, at the same time, function as a unit on a
hierarchically higher level, is thus not possible.

604 Meta, L, 2, 2005

2. Functional hierarchy means that the model can capture superordinate goals.
The hierarchical organization of goals in translation becomes most obvious in translation versions. These are derived from a maxim which dominates an entire translation and according to which a translation should not merely convey the sense and/or
function of the SL text into TL, but should be an adequate piece of discourse produced according to the TL norms of language use.
In example I, the subjects endeavour to conceive a new translation version
(T4) is superordinate to the entire part of discourse which follows. All utterances
between T4 and T4# are produced under the subjects superordinate aim. This also
applies to the intraversional strategy. The subjects endeavour to conceive a further
translation version can be considered to be a realization of her global aim which is
superordinate to the entire translation, i.e. to produce a TL text which is as adequate
as possible and which not only conveys the sense of the SL text, but which also corresponds to the TL norms of language use and its conventions of text production.
This aim, which has the character of a maxim, is, however, not pursued by all the
subjects. Lack of knowledge and/or inability may be the reason(s) for this.
Example II reveals an even more complex structure of relations of super- and
subordination. The transcribed segment of a translation starts with a subject conceiving a third translation version for an SL text segment. Within this version, a
translation strategy is initiated by a problem which the subject is faced with when she
conceives the version. The strategy continues after the version has been completed. It
thus has a partly intraversional character and is dominated by the superordinate aim
of the version (T3). The translation strategy itself is superordinate to the versions 4
and 5. They are dominated by the subjects aim of solving the translation problem
which she has realized and verbalized.
6. Professional and Non-Professional Translation Processes:
A Brief Comparison
The findings which have been discussed in the previous sections are relatively independent as to whether the subjects are professional or non-professional translators.
In this concluding section, some aspects of translation processes of professionals are
compared with those of advanced foreign language learners.
The differences between the two groups of translators have been identified on
the basis of my data. Since the investigation is still in progress, the following considerations are of a preliminary kind.
The first point I would like to make is that in spite of the differences, professional and non-professional translation processes have many features in common.
The fact that the categories of my model of analysis, which were developed on the
basis of non-professional translations, adequately capture professional translations,
as well, clearly suggests that the two kinds of mental processes are similar. From the
point of view of the strategies detected, the mental processes of the two kinds of
translators did not reveal significant differences.
As a quantitative analysis of the translation strategies shows, differences between
professional translators and foreign language students can be detected in the distribution and frequency in the types of strategy, i.e. in the quantitative aspects of the

the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 605

translation strategies. Furthermore, the process-oriented approaches to the translations taken by professional and non-professional translators differ quite considerably.
1. Most of the foreign language students take a form-oriented approach in that
they produce translations mainly by an exchange of language signs. In the data elicited by me and by other scholars, numerous examples of inadequacies and deficits
resulting from such a form-oriented approach can be found. Since the foreign language students generally approach their translations in a form-oriented way, the
monitor which checks on the sense of their translations remains largely inactive. As a
result, TL texts are produced which are neither equivalent in sense to the respective
SL texts nor grammatically or stylistically acceptable texts by themselves. This is even
true of texts in the subjects mother tongue. They, too, often reveal the deficits just
mentioned. Obviously, this is not caused by lack of competence. When the subjects
were confronted with their own translations some time after the translation task,
they could hardly believe that they had produced texts in their native language with
such a high degree of grammatical and stylistic errors. The subjects would certainly
not have made these errors if their task had only been to produce a text with a certain
meaning in their mother tongue. The deficits in the TL texts are mainly caused by the
task of translating and the subjects form-oriented approach to translation which
prevents any checking on the sense of the TL text produced. Professional translators,
in contrast, commonly employ sense-oriented procedures (cf. Lrscher 1997). Thus,
the shortcomings of translations with serious distortions of sense or violations of
norms of TL text production are avoided.
2. The units of translation, i.e. the SL text segments which subjects extract and
put into their focus of attention in order to render them into the TL as a whole, are
considerably larger among professional translators than among foreign language students. In other words, the processing system of professionals can obviously address
larger units than that of non-professionals. The former mainly choose phrases,
clauses or sentences as units of translation whereas the latter concentrate on
syntagmas and especially on single words. As a consequence, professional translators
often realize problems while they are rendering a unit of translation into the TL. The
foreign language students, however, usually realize translation problems before they
start translating because the units they extract from the SL text are much smaller.
Consequently, problems can be located more easily and more quickly. Furthermore,
it is mainly problems of a local kind, especially lexical transfer problems arising from
lack of competence in SL or TL, which the non-professionals are faced with whereas
the professionals are primarily concerned with global, formulating problems, with
the optimal expression of sense according to the TL norms of text production.
3. As pointed out elsewhere (Lrscher 1991c), foreign language students tend not
to check those TL utterances according to their sense which they have translated and
within which they did not realize any problems. As a consequence, the translations of
the students more often than not reveal utterances which contain grammatical errors, even in their mother tongue, violations of TL text production norms, or which
make no sense. Professional translators, however, tend to continuously check their
TL text output, no matter whether it has been produced with or without any problems involved. As a result, professional translators often do not realize formulating
problems before they check their utterances produced in TL. This ex-post realization

606 Meta, L, 2, 2005

of translation problems is an important distinguishing factor of professional and

non-professional translation processes.
4. The professional translators mainly, although not exclusively, check their utterances produced in TL with regard to their stylistic and text-type adequacy. The
foreign language students, by contrast, only check the solutions to their problems, and
this checking is done with respect to lexical equivalence and, to a lesser extent, to
their syntactic correctness. Stylistic and text-type adequacy plays a subordinate role,
if any, for them. Thus their translation processes are dominated, if not determined by
the lexis and syntax of the SL text. As a result, texts in the TL are produced which are
often deficient and unacceptable because they contain violations of TL norms of text
production. Such deficiencies can, at least in principle, be avoided by the different
checking procedures generally employed by the professional translators.
I owe great thanks to Peter Tosic, who, as a native speaker of English, critically
looked through the English version of the manuscript.
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der Struktur des bersetzungsprozesses an fortgeschrittenen Franzsischlernern, Tbingen,
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the translation process : methods and problems of its investigation 607

ANNEX 1

Twenty-two elements of translation strategies:

Original Elements of Translation Strategies
RP
VP
SP
SP
PSP
SPa,b,c..
SP
SP =
PSL

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Realizing a Translational Problem

Verbalizing a Translational Problem
Search for a (possibly preliminary) Solution to a Tanslational Problem
Solution to a Translational Problem
Preliminary Solution to a Translational Problem
Parts of a Solution to a Translational Problem
A Solution to a Translational Problem is still to be found ()
Negative () Solution to a Translational Problem
Problem in the Reception of the SL Text

Potential Elements of Translation Strategies

MSL
MTL
REPHR.SL
REPHR.TL
CHECK

:
:
:
:
:

OSL
OTL
REC
[TS]com
TRANS
T
T2,3,..n
ORG

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Monitoring (verbatim repetition) of SL Text Segments

Monitoring (verbatim repetition) of TL Text Segments
Rephrasing (paraphrasing) of SL Text Segments
Rephrasing (paraphrasing) of TL Text Segments
Discernible Testing (= Checking) of a (preliminary) Solution to a
Translational Problem
Mental Organization of SL Text Segments
Mental Organization of TL Text Segments
Reception (first reading) of SL Text Segments
Comment on a Text Segment
Transposition of lexemes or combinations of lexemes
Translation of Text Segments without any problems involved
Conceiving a Second, Third, etc. Translation Version
Organization of Translational Discourse

ANNEX 2

Flow Chart of Translational Problem Solving

608 Meta, L, 2, 2005

Explanatory Remarks to the Flow Chart of Translational Problem-Solving
After realizing (RP) and possibly verbalizing (VP) a translational problem, and after a potential
search for a solution (>SP), subjects may achieve a solution (SP, SPa,b) or a preliminary solution (PSP) immediately (2), (3), (4), in which cases the problem-solving process may come to an
end (#). This may also be the case when subjects consider a problem insoluble (1). Having found a
(preliminary) solution (2), (3), (4), subjects may go on dealing with the problem (>>>) and proceed to either decision node A or B ( A; B). Decision nodes are points at which several problemsolving means are available to the subjects. When subjects cannot find a solution (SP), they can
only proceed to decision node A. Having reached decision node A, subjects may try to bring about
a solution by monitoring SL or TL text segments (MSL, MTL), and/or by rephrasing SL text
segments (REPHR.SL), and/or by (further) searching for a solution (>SP), and/or by mentally
organizing SL or TL text segments (OSL, OTL), and/or by commenting on text segments ([TS]com),
and/or by conceiving a negative solution (SP=). As a result of these problem-solving activities,
subjects may either find a (preliminary) solution to the problem (PSP, SP, SPa,b) or not (SP).
Here again, the problem-solving process may come to a successful (6), (7), (8) or to an unsuccessful
(5) end.
When subjects decide to continue, they may either go back to decision node A, which is possible after SP, PSP, SP, and SPa,b; or they may proceed to decision node B, which, however, is
not possible after SP.
Having reached decision node B, subjects continue by rephrasing (REPHR.TL) the respective
TL text segment (SP, PSP, SPa,b) or by testing it (CHECK). The result of the rephrasing is a new
(preliminary) solution ((P)SP2,3, SPa2,3, SPb2,3 ). The problem-solving process may
come to an end here again, as in (13) and (14), or subjects may proceed to one of the decision
nodes again.
After the testing of a TL text segment, the (preliminary) solution may either be corroborated
((P)SP+) or rejected ((P)SP-). In both of these cases, subjects may terminate the problem-solving
process (9), (10), (11), (12) or proceed to either decision node A or B.